CHAPTER 23
Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre - Germany
Captain Sally Willis smiled broadly at Katz as she walked over to the garden seat where he sat in the sun reading an English-language newspaper.
“I hope you’re okay for a visitor.”
Katz looked up and instantly his eyes moistened and bottom lip started to tremble. He fumbled for his walking stick but the woman leaned over and kissed him gently on his good cheek. She too began to cry.
Katz reached for her hand, drew it to his lips and kissed it. “I thought I’d never see you again.”
“I know. Losing you was like losing a part of myself. I love you, Pete, you believe that, don’t you?”
“And I love you too, Sal. I know I never said that enough.”
Katz realized that now, in front of the person he had always tried so hard to impress, he looked anything but the hero the media was portraying him as. He took a deep breath and tried to compose himself.
“So, you’re a captain now. Well done. Still counselling?”
“Actually, that’s why I’m here … well, apart from wanting to see you and give you the biggest kiss in the world. Even though I’m not assigned to your regiment I’ve got special approval. I’m officially your counsellor.”
“Counsellor! What do I need a counsellor for? I’ve been in a hole in a mountain in a desert for two years. What could possibly be wrong with me?”
Willis knew Katz was only half joking. He was strong-willed, one of the strongest men she knew, but the trauma would still be there, however deep, and would reveal itself slowly but surely over time. And she wanted to be there to help.
Katz smiled. “Good.”